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First ever YOG Gold medal


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Japan's Yuka Sato has won the first gold medal in the inaugural Youth Olympics, racing to victory in the women's triathlon.

Sato, 18, edged out Australian Ellie Salthouse and American Kelly Whitley. The athletes swam 750 meters, cycled 20 kilometers and ran 5 kilometers Sunday through Singapore's East Coast Park.

The triathlon started the 12-day event which will feature 3,600 athletes ages 14 to 18 from 204 countries competing in 26 sports across the Asian city state.

There will be more medals Sunday in fencing, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling.

AP

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1347518〈=eng_news&cate_img=145.jpg&cate_rss=news_Sports

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Japan's Yuka Sato has won the first gold medal in the inaugural Youth Olympics, racing to victory in the women's triathlon.

Sato, 18, edged out Australian Ellie Salthouse and American Kelly Whitley. The athletes swam 750 meters, cycled 20 kilometers and ran 5 kilometers Sunday through Singapore's East Coast Park.

The triathlon started the 12-day event which will feature 3,600 athletes ages 14 to 18 from 204 countries competing in 26 sports across the Asian city state.

There will be more medals Sunday in fencing, swimming, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling.

AP

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1347518〈=eng_news&cate_img=145.jpg&cate_rss=news_Sports

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Yuka Sato? :blink: Isn't she the figure skater from long ago? What she had plastic surgery and changed her age so she could compete again as a summer athlete but NOT change her name? :blink:

If that is meant to be a joke, it is in rather bad taste, isn't it?

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Why bad taste? It would be bad taste only if Yuka Sato was dead or had plastic surgery that went wrong or anything like that. Baron just made a mildly ironic joke.

Just how ironic a joke should this be when two athletes share the same name? Is this particularly funny just because they are Japanese or Asian?

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Just how ironic a joke should this be when two athletes share the same name? Is this particularly funny just because they are Japanese or Asian?

I think you read too much into it and you take it too seriously. The whole basis of the joke was that they share the same name, simple as that. And please don't open the "racism" can of worms. This was clearly not the intention of Baron's joke, especially since he has Asian roots of his own.

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I think you read too much into it and you take it too seriously. The whole basis of the joke was that they share the same name, simple as that. And please don't open the "racism" can of worms. This was clearly not the intention of Baron's joke, especially since he has Asian roots of his own.

I would certainly not like to attribute the above to a case of racism, but you do not sidestep the issue just because you think there is no intention to insult. The point to be made is that people need to sensitive to basic things like causing insult over names and culture, and for that comment to come from someone who is obviously way too old to qualify for the YOG does not exactly reflect well on himself.

And so what if he is part Asian? You mean there is no such thing as inter-Asian racism? Or do you think Asians are all just a single humongous and homogeneous entity?

When a young athlete wins a medal, that last she needs is for an adult to laugh at her name. I am not sure who is the one who needs to grow up.

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This discussion is going over the top. He was just making a simple joke, and most certainly without the intention of insulting anyone, but just as pointing out that the two names are the same. It's his kind of humour. If that is not your kind of humour, OK. But don't chastise other people for having a different understanding of humour than you do. And again: Don't read too much into it and don't take it as terribly serious as you do currently.

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This discussion is going over the top. He was just making a simple joke, and most certainly without the intention of insulting anyone, but just as pointing out that the two names are the same. It's his kind of humour. If that is not your kind of humour, OK. But don't chastise other people for having a different understanding of humour than you do. And again: Don't read too much into it and don't take it as terribly serious as you do currently.

It is easy for you to say I am over-reacting, since you are not the subject of ridicule, nor are you as culturally connected to the said subject as I am. And I think I have read enough of his comments to know that on several occasions, they veer on racism and are not exactly reflective of Olympic values.

If you think someone else have no ill intentions or have their own sense of unique "humour" which involves making fun of someone's name, than perhaps is it you who should be remaining silent and allow the joker to explain himself. Insisting on defending his actions appears to suggest that you condone his behavior.

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Gosh! I'm absolutely certain that Baron would have made the same joke if the two athletes' name would have been Ana Espinosa, Debbie Miller or Gerda Schmidt. If the latter had been the case, I as German would absolutely not have felt offended. Why should I? It's only a joke on the duplicity of names, and just because those names are Asian in this case, you recognise a case of anti-Asian racism? This is plainly absurd.

And I won't let myself be shut up by you only because I'm defending a member you obviously dislike.

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And I won't let myself be shut up by you only because I'm defending a member you obviously dislike.

That's a rather ironic comment made by someone basically telling me to shut up. A taste of your own medicine, perhaps?

And if you consider me presumptuous about another member's intentions, you appear to be equality guilty for doing the same. As I said, I take issue with making fun of people's names in this thread, especially someone culturally different from yours. And I do consider some other comments made by the same fella in other threads veering towards racism. But this has absolutely no bearing on whether I like or dislike the person in question.

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When did I tell you to shut up? I only told you that you shouldn't take the joke too seriously. You, on the other hand, told me to be silent.

And for the last time: The origin of the name was by all indications absolutely unimportant. Or did Baron write "Yuka Sato is a strange name" or something like that? He only pointed out that there's a figure skater of the same name and joked whether it's the same person just in another guise. He never mentioned the country or continent Sato comes from, and therefore your allegations that that joke had a racist direction is just far-fetched and malicious.

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OK, I just logged in. Oh huaiwei, please...

I merely made the joke because it is strange (or at least I found it very 'coincidental' that the name Yuka Sato would re-surface again in a new generation). I mean out of a nation of over 120 million+, I just found it odd.

Why would I razz the 'old' Yuka Sato? As a matter of fact, I find her to be one of the 'cuter' Japanese ladies who have emerged at the top of their game.

Just to use a historical precedent which you may/not be aware of: one of the two final lighters of the 1976 Montreal cauldron was Stephane Prefontaine (15 or 16 years old at the time). However, in most accounts, there is an asterisk to his name to say that he is NOT the same person as the more famous runner, Steven (I think that's the difference) Prefontaine from Oregon (who would meet a tragic death shortly after). So, responsible historial accounts do try to point out that these are two DIFFERENT individuals sharing a name. My 'historian' side of me just went into a 'light-hearted' mode there.

I apologize if you were offended...but no harm was intended...merely a play on words.

Kindly get a sense of humor...and thanks, F, for standing up for me in my absence.

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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My bad, I said that I had read that they were not intending to play anthems at medal ceremonies. I did not read any follow-up on that, but I am glad they changed their minds for it is an integral part of the Olympic experience and creates cherished lifetime memories for those privileged to stand atop the podium.

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I merely made the joke because it is strange (or at least I found it very 'coincidental' that the name Yuka Sato would re-surface again in a new generation). I mean out of a nation of over 120 million+, I just found it odd.

Statistically speaking, a nation with a higher population will actually have a higher incidence of names being shared. And the Japanese do not consider it odd to adopt the names of popular individuals not unlike several other cultures, although unlike others, they are more likely to actually change their surnames as well.

I apologize if you were offended...but no harm was intended...merely a play on words.

Thanks, this is merely all I needed. No hard feelings, and I do respect individuals willing to apologise even if they had no intention to offend. :)

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Who said that they aren't doing the anthems? This was initially Rogge's intention, but the IOC and the international federations decided otherwise. There are the national flags and the national anthems.

Interstingly, though, they do seem to be actively discouraging any medal tally.

Edited by Sir Rols
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